UAE: 2-month jail term for man who tried to con resident out of Dh900

Abu Dhabi - The defendant tried to claim that the plaintiff's late father owed him money.

A man who tried to steal money from an Abu Dhabi resident in a phone scam, claiming that it was a debt owed by the latter's late father, has been sentenced to two months in jail.

The Abu Dhabi Misdemeanours Court also ordered the confiscation of the phone used in the crime, closure of the defendant's WhatsApp account, and deletion of all data from the phone.

The public prosecution said the man had attempted to steal money by posing as a merchant who had lent cash to the victim's deceased father and demanding that it be paid. The attempt, however, failed and the accused was arrested.

Prosecutors said the accused had contacted the victim via WhatsApp after finding his phone number in an obituary page on social media, where the victim had posted his family's phone numbers to receive condolences after his father's demise.

Pretending to be a merchant, the accused contacted the bereaved son and asked him to transfer Dh900 to his bank account, claiming that his deceased father had bought goods from him.

When asked for his commercial license or ID card, the offender wrote that he was mute and could not speak.

The victim suspected it might be a scam and reported the matter to authorities who arrested the criminal.

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Investigations revealed that the phone used in the criminal attempt belonged to the accused and that the social media account was linked to his phone number. In addition, the files contained in the device matched those in the WhatsApp conversation.

Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution has urged the public to be vigilant and verify information received from unknown persons before responding. They also warned people against falling for the schemes of scammers who use social media for their crimes.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi